Germanfest starts off: Everbody polka

Germanfest got off to its official start Wednesday morning with the tapping of the beer keg by Mayor Tom Henry.

This year the event had a special guest all the way from Gera, Germany, the Ost Thueringen Jugend Akkordeon Orchester, which is made up of about 25 accordion players from one of Fort Wayne's sister cities. The accordion orchestra consists of players ages 12 to 40.

Wednesday the group only treated the crowd to the national anthems of the United States and Germany. For people who would like to hear more of their music they will play 12:30-1 p.m. Saturday in the lower level of Headwaters Park near the festival pavilion.

The festival pavilion and bier tent are open until midnight today; and 11 a.m.-1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. See a full schedule of events and band performance times at http://germanfest.org.

Admission is free for many events. Admission to the festival pavilion and bier tent is $2, 2-5 p.m., and $5, after 5 p.m. All military personnel with I.D. are admitted free.